It can't be good
by SlytherinElektra
Summary: Jasper is not feeling well, but hides it because he doesn't want to bother the Cullens anymore. Bella finds out.
1. It started

Jasper had a headache. It was impossible and senseless since he was an immortal vampire and all that, but there it was. Making his head pound and blurring his vision every once in a while. He'd been buying aspirine for the past two weeks, and it had worked quite nicely (a vampire's physiology wasn't that different from a human's after all) but the last days the pain had come back stronger. And hiding it from Edward or Alice wasn't easy, but he'd already caused too many troubles to the family, and wasn't willing to be in the spotlight again for another century or so. He'd been lucky Alice wasn't looking into his future too often, busy as she was preparing a major party for her birthday. Anyways, the pain made him gloomy, which wasn't a good thing for an empath, so he had to use all his concealment mechanisms so no one would find out.

Jasper was hunting with Emmett one evening when the subject came up.

"Hey, Jazz, I know you're trying to control yourself, but you're bringing me down. Is something up?"

Crap. He'd been so concentrated on Edward and Alice that he'd totally forgotten about his very good friend Emmett.

"It's nothing important, Emmett, don't worry about it."

"But it is something, then" His brother insited.

"I'm fine, really. And I'll try to control myself more to stop bringing you down, ok?" Jasper gave the other vampire the best smile he could muster and tried to distract Emmett with jokes about bears.

"Dude, I'm trying to be serious for once, don't mess with my head! I don't mean to tell you to hide whatever's bothering you better, I mean that you can talk to me about it. I'm here, you know?"

"And I appreciate it, but I told you that I'm fine."

"You're not finishing that deer?" Emmett suddenly asked.

"No"

"Then you're definitely not fine."

Jasper let out an almost inaudible laugh and dissolved his brother's worry with his gift. As much as he appreciated Emmett's concern, he didn't think he could do anything to help the situation, so he preferred to keep hiding it.

A week after that trip with Emmett to the woods Jasper hadn't had a single drop of blood. Somehow, the sole thought of hunting made him nauseous. That couldn't be good. Anyhow, that night was Alice's party and she was the only one important, it was her night. He'd take care of himself after that.

The party was going to be huge, which didn't help relieving his avoid the hyperactive Alice, Jasper went into the deserted kitchen and tried to get some peace, focus himself, get a better grip of his mind. Just then, Bella walked in the kitchen and looked at him with complicity.

"You too want to escape and don't come back 'till tomorrow morning?" She asked, with a shy smile.

"Oh, that'd be simply wonderful..." Bella's smile grew ten sizes and she continued talking.

"I was talking with Edward earlier and...."

But Jasper wasn't hearing anymore. The world, with all its images and sounds, had started to blur and the vampire discovered that he couldn't focus on anything. The colours and shapes of the things surrounding him were all wrong and he was falling inevitably.

Bella's POV (Some minutes earlier)

It was 4 hours before the oh-so-important P- Night (yeah, P is for party) and I already wanted it to be over. It was going to be huge, with a lot of vampires that were strangers to me but friends of the Cullens. I didn't feel like it. Not one bit. Being charming and polite with strangers had never been one of my hobbys. But everyone was so excited.... even Edward was all the time talking about how he was going to catch up and tell all his old friends about his new family. And I was supposed to be there and smile when they mentioned me.

Trying to get out of that festive climate, I went to the kitchen that would most likely be empty. When I was arriving a felt a lot of things: hurt, sadness, emotional exhaustion... That could only mean one thing: Jasper. He was standing near the counter with a tired expression. The moment he saw me, the previous turmoil was replaced by a smooth calm. Boy, was he gifted.

"You too want to escape and don't come back 'till tomorrow morning?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, that'd be simply wonderful..." Jasper answered with his deep voice.

Finally, someone who understood me! Encouraged by it, I continued talking:

"I was talking with Edward earlier and he seems to think that..." In that moment I noticed that Jasper's eyes seemed out of focus, and that he was swaying dangerously "Jasper? Are you all right? Jasper?"

He started blinking a lot, and suddenly he was falling forward. I rushed to him and caught his head and his shoulders before he hit the floor, amazed at how light he seemed.

"Jasper? What's wrong?"

OK, now I was starting to panic. Jasper's eyes opened and closed, but he didn't seem to be seeing anything. In one of the moments his eyes were open he tried tried to catch my sleeve with one of his shaky hands, but before he could do it he went totally limp. That only made my panic increase exponentially. What the hell was going on? If vampire's weren't supposed to be able to sleep, passing out had to be impossible! Was that another thing I didn't know about? Did it had something to do with the emotions I felt earlier? What was the protocol in these cases?

"Carlisle! Someone! Help!"

Right now, I wished Edward could read my mind so he'd hear my desperate calls for help, and came to tell me what to do. I was still cradling unconscious Jasper's head in my arms, and silently praying that someone would come to that door. But no one did and Jas per wasn't waking up.

A/N: As always, excuse my English mistakes, it's not mother tongue! When I have exams nearby I always get on writing overdose... Did you like it? Should I continue? All feedback is welcome! You know you want to review!


	2. And it got worse

Someone was calling Carlisle with urgency. Jasper wished they'd stop, because his jead couldn't stand screams right now. He could feel their anxiety, too, apparently that someone was really worried about something... He tried to open his eyes, even if he knew light was going to hurt. Little by little, he started opening them.... God, everything hurt. Now the mysterious someone was calling his name. He tried to focus on the face above him. It was a woman... Alice maybe? No...it was... Bella!

Suddenly everything came back to him: he was speaking to Bella in the kitchen when everything had started to go blurry. Oh, he'd probably freaked her out. Bella continued calling Carlisle.

"He's at work" Jasper said, in an almost inaudible voice."But there's no need to bother him. Could you please help me up?"

Bella complied, gently and carefully, as if she was handling something very fragile.

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked. Jasper smiled, regaining his usual confident (yet reserved) composture. If the pain would stop for just a second everything would be much easier to keep up with the I'm OK façade. But if he didn't want Bella to tell everyone what happenned and (without wanting to) steal Alice's night from her, so he had to maintain it.

"Yes, Bella, I am, there's no need to be so anxious. Relax." Jasper said coolly.

"How I am supposed to be calm! You passed out in my arms! You fell onto me and didn't have the strength to even grab my sleeve! And your eyes were all out of focus and then they closed and I..."

"Bella, please, calm down, it's all right, I'm all right. I just haven't hunted in a while, and I got a bit dizzy, nothing else."

But Bella wasn't buying a word of it, and Jasper could feel it, along with her increasing concern. Calculating the perfect moment so Bella thought his words and not his power had calmed her down, he prepared an "it's OK" speech and a dose of calm and relief for the other vampire.

"Just relax, OK? We have deer blood stored in the garage for moments like these, I'll take those and go back to the party as good as new. And if it'll make you happier, I will talk to Carlisle about this little incident tomorrow morning."

"Why not tonight?" She asked, even if her worry had decreased considerably.

"This is Alice's night, she's worked hard to make everything perfect. Let's give her that, a bit of perfection form some hours, she'll appreciate it. Why don't we try to enjoy the night as much as we can and leave all the worries for tomorrow?"

It sounded reasonable.

"OK. I'll see you at the party, then." Bella simply answered, and headed to her place, a bit confused. Just then, Jasper's voice called her:

"But, Bella, thank you for your concern. It means a lot to me."

She smiled, thinking to herself that it was very nice to be living in a house filled with gentlemen.

Bella's POV (Some hours later)

I didn't like big parties. Least of all those filled with strangers. It was a fact now. Nessie was already in bed and Edward was remembering the early 20th century with some vampires from New Orleans. Alice and Rosalie were telling anecdotes and stories to a larger group near the piano. I didn't feel like joining any of the conversations, and I was bored. Really bored. Usually I liked the stories the Cullen told, but not today ahving to smile all the time. And the dress and shoes Alice had picked for me were exceptionally uncomfortable, too.

Trying to follow Jasper's advice form earlier (the one about enjoying the night) I decided to go upstairs and change into something more comfortable After telling Edward that I'd be back soon, I went upstairs and put on an elegant yet simple white blouse with black trousers and white ballerinas. Suddenly a collective laugh was heard downstairs. Probably was one of Emmett's jokes.

When I was going downstairs, I saw that Jasper and Alice's room door was open and that someone was in there. I guessed it was the blond vampire:

"Hey, Jasper, are you feeling better?"

But when I got nearer I saw that he was clutching his head with both hands, a expression of pure agony in his face. And not only that. Crimson tears ran through his cheeks, staining his marble face. I was at his side inmediately, knowing that something was very wrong.

"All... all their emotions...." He started saying, but his voice was shaking badly "And my head...it's killing me...all the pain...."

"That's it. I'm taking you to Carlisle, he'll know what to do. I should have told..."

"No! Please.....The emotions from the people, they hurt. Just help me get out of here, please."

I complied, because the pain in his eyes was sincere, and I wanted to help him, like he had helped me many times before. We went out of the room's window into the woods, and into a clearing where Jasper's pain wasn't as bad as before. I had to support him most of the way because he could barely stand. I wished I knew what was wrong. After a little while, Jasper looked at me through redish watery eyes and started saying:

"I'm so sorry about all this, Bella. I...."

Before he could even finish the sentence he was out cold again. I screamed in frustration. My friend, someone from my family, was in terrible pain and I didn't know what to do to relieve him. I couldn't take him back to the party, because that would only make him worse, but I didn't want to live him on the grass all night either. So I picked him from the ground and chose a third option.

He was so happy. It was a very nice place, and he had built it himself. Everytime he thought about it he almost exploded with pride. And in a perfect place in the woods, to run and do everything he wanted. Finally a house of his own. It was small, yes, and there were not many things on it, but it was the first time he was living independently and he was extremely happy.

Someone knocked at his door. His first visitor! Wondering who could it be at that time of the night he opened, and found a sight that he wouldn't expected in a million years.

It was Bella, carrying a passed out blond Cullen in her arms. Smiling, she softly said:

"Hey, Seth, can we come in?"

A/N: Did you like it? Is it any good? All feedback is welcome! And thanksssss to all the people that reviewed in the first chapter! It's the best motivator I could ask for! Anyways, tell me what you think! You know you want to review!


	3. Make it stop

Seth let his jaw drop. What the hell? What was Bella doing there? And why was she carrying around with her a dead vampire? Because that vamp wasn't giving off any kind of vampire smell and usually they were pretty stinky.....

"Please? Seth?" Bella's soft voice got him out of his reverie.

"Yes, of course."

Bella quickly enter the modest hut and placed the blond vampire in the rusty bed Seth had constructed. Knowing how unstable it could be, the quileute warned his friend:

"Be careful, that bed is not too steady"

"Don't worry" she said, looking at the other vampire with a sad expression "Jasper's very light. Too light, in fact."

"What happenned to him?" asked Seth, not understanding anything.

"I wish I knew" came the enigmatic answer.

Bella sighed and tried to focus a bit.

"Let's sit somewhere." she told her friend "I'll explain everything... or at least, I'll try to."

Back at Alice's birthday, Edward was growing more anxious with each passing second. Why wasn't Bella back? She had gone to change her clothes almost an hour ago, and she had told him that she'd be back in a second. Where was she? He knew that she wasn't a big fans of parties and figured she'd be with Nessie upstairs, but she was taking way too long. And the fact that he couldn't hear her, even if it was usual, didn't help at all. Nor did it the fact that with all those vampires around he couldn't catch her smell.

He asked Emmett, who was alone by a window:

"Hey, have you seen Bella?"

"Not in a while... And have you seen Jasper? I haven't seen him since the party started." Said Emmett, still worried about his brother after their chat the previous week.

"Now that you mention it, no I haven't.... I just hadn't noticed he wasn't here."

So, the two vampires went over to Alice, certain that she'd be able to locate them.

"I can't see them"

Edward feared the worst. Someone had come for Bella (The Volturi, for example) and had made her pay for some past Cullen mistake? Had she got in some diplomatical trouble with the Quileutes? It had to be something grave, because she wouldn't have left the party like that if it wasn't.

Carlisle tried to calm the remaining family members by telling them that Bella and Jasper were probably just chatting with Jacob or Seth, but Edward couldn't just sit there and do nothing. He asked Rosalie to watch Nessie and then headed to the woods with Emmett. He couldn't hear Bella but if she was with Jasper he could probably hear him.

Alice wasn't worried, Jasper and Bella were strong and it was very unlikely that something had happenned to them. She was more inclined to believe Carlisle's hypothesis, and she was fuming mad about it. How could have Jasper abandoned her in her party? And Bella! After all she had done for her! Well, she didn't care. She was going to enjoy her party with or without them.

Bella's POV

It was already dawn when I finished talking with Seth. He had told me about his new house and his plans for the next summer, and I was happy to see him still so cheery and noble, as he'd always been. Jasper hadn't made a move in the whole night, which wasn't good, but I let him, because maybe rest was the one thing he needed. After hearing a couple of Seth's jokes, I saw that his eyes were opening, and went to him.

"Hey, Jasper, how are you feeling?"

He seemed quite disoriented but after a couple minutes he realised where he was and gave us a tired smile.

"Good morning, Bella, and good morning to you too, Seth." Something was very off about him, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. He stood up and continued talking, with that elegant grace of his "I am deeply grateful that you provided me with a place to rest, but now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go hunting before I start eating the walls."

"Sure thing, man" Said Seth with a puzzled expression. "It's like one of those zombie movies were the dead wake up and start walking and talking." He said when Jasper was gone "The fact that this was a gentleman zombie only makes it creepier."

I smiled at Seth's comments and hoped that whatever was Jasper's problem it could be fixed with a nice dosage of blood.

Edward and Emmett were still searching for their missing relatives. Edward was very worried, and Emmett's thoughts about his conversation with Jasper and how silent and tired he had been all week weren't helping one bit. The woods were mostly deserted, apart from some nature-loving couples, so there was no one to mess with Edward's head.

When they were approaching Edward felt a sudden wave of pure pain, that almost made him drop to his knees. Emmett looked at him worried, and Edward stopped walking. Concentrating on the source of his affliction, Edward started hearing a sentence mixed in all the pain.

_Please make it stop..... Please make it stop......_

It was Jasper's voice! Now with more urgency, Edward started running, with Emmett following closely. Soon they arrived to the place were Bella and Jasper were, and the sight that greeted them sook them terribly.

In one corner of the clearing was an agonizing deer, on the other, the two vampires, half lying half seated in the grass. Bella was holding and caressing Jasper's brow, and this last one was heaving and vomiting a lot of blood. The blood was pooling under him, and his clothes and Bella's hands were stained. The blond vampire's face was a mask of agony, and crimsom tears were once again running through his cheeks.

"Oh my god! Jasper!" Emmett at his brother's side inmediately. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Jasper looked at him with grateful eyes, thankful for the sincere concern and affection of his brother, even if they were only worsening his unbearable headache.

"It hurts" he weakly said, because he was tired of restraining himself, and hiding it, and then Emmett's heart broke with sadness, and Jasper's stomach screamed in response. He started throwing up blood again, more violently this time, and more tears appeared in his eyes.

"Edward, please, bring Carlisle here. But only him, emotions from people hurt him. Emmett, maybe you should leave too" said Bella, who was of the verge of tears herself.

"No" answered Edward "he wants Emmett to stay with him."

Emmett smiled at his bloodied brother.

"Don't worry, Jazz, I'm here with you, I'm not leaving."

"Please, Edward, run!" asked Bella.

"But, Bella I...." But Edward was interrupted by his wife.

"Please, bring Carlisle" she said "I don't think he'll be able to take this much longer."

A/N: Like it? Is it a good continuation? Soon the mystery will begin to solve....But in the meantime I want your thoughts! As for those who've been asking if this is going a Bella/Jasper pairing story, I honestly don't know. Hope you liked it! You know you want to review!


	4. Diagnosis

It's going to be OK, he kept repeating in his mind, trying to convince himself. Edward ran at superhuman speed, but it wasn't fast enough. The anxiety seemed to be eating him and the scene he'd just witnessed played over and over in his mind. What could possibly be wrong with Jasper? Him, of all people, who had to be almost inmune to vampire venom, who was a warrior. And how could he have missed something as big as that? Was he so infatuated with his pretty little family that he was leaving everybody else abandoned? He promised to himself to pay more atenttion to his relatives, and ask what was going in their lives more often, so something like that wouldn't happen again.

It wasn't long before he arrived at the house, and he felt a wave of relief when he saw that the guests were gone. He heard Esme thinking something about some broken vases and went to her, knowing that a clock was ticking.

"Esme" he said, when he got near her.

"Oh, Edward, dear" she said, with her usual warm smile "did you find Bella and Jasper?"

"Where is Carlisle? I need him to come with me right now!"

Esme took in Edward's anxious expression and the urgency in his voice called her husband.

"Coming!" said Carlisle's voice from upstairs.

"Edward, son, what's going on?"

But Edward didn't say a word and waited until his father was downstairs to listen to everything. The blonde vampire noticed Edward's distressed look inmediately:

"What's wrong?"

"Something happenned to Jasper, he's in a lot of pain and is vomiting blood" Esme gasped in surprise at this "He's with Bella and Emmett, Bella helped him out last night because people's emotions hurt him. And that's why we need you to figure out what's wrong with him, but no one else can come."

"Ok, I'll take a couple of things and I'll go with you"

"Be quick" Edward told Carlisle, remembering Jasper's state when he left. Suddenly, Esme sweet voice stopped all his thoughts.

"Edward, honey," He looked at Esme, whose thoughts were now all of Jasper. "whatever is it, please don't give up on him."

Bella's POV

I was trying to make conversation with Seth (because he had to be feeling quite uncomfortable with his place filled with vampires) but couldn't find the appropiate words. Emmett was sitting on a chair next the rusty bed where Jasper lay, staring at the ceiling and Seth I were standing in the other corner, near the window.

Jasper moaned and whimpered every now and then, and had a new symptom: he was burning up. He had been throwing up blood for several minutes after Edward left, and he had grown extremely weak. He was awake (at first) but couldn't move, or speak and could barely keep his eyes open. Emmett had carried him from the clearing to Seth's homemade bed and had been talking to him, to keep him awake, but to no avail. Everything was getting worse. And now his temperature had scalated, and the little hope I had started vanishing.

Edward and Carlisle arrived shortly after, and the doctor checked Jasper straight away. I was always amazed at Carlisle's efficiency and speed, and at the grace with which he dealt with the sick and the injured. While he examined Jasper, Emmett and Edward looked at him expectantly, and when he finished we were all waiting for a diagnosis.

"Well?" I asked.

The doctor seemed to be deep in thought, and then his whole expression changed.

"No... it can't be..."

Ok, those words from Carlisle only freaked us out further.

"What?" asked Emmett "What is it?"

"It smells like Vervain" Calrisle said, solemnly.

"And what is that?"

"An herb used to finish off vampires, a couple of centuries ago. There was a group, a society of humans who became aware of vampires and started hunting them down, with different tools. The most effective of them was the vervain, innocuous for humans but extremely toxic for us... but it was supposed to be extinct... The last Vervains died on the early 1900's..."

"Ok, and what is the cure for that?" I asked the doctor.

Carlisle's voice suddenly seemed three tones graver.

"There is no known cure. When the intoxication is light it goes off with time, but in this case...I'll search my books, but... Vervain has been always considered deadly for vampires..."

A lot of questions came to my head. How come Jasper was poisoned and we were all right? What had that poison? And who had access to a rare herb like that? And how did they know there vampires around? It was a targeted attack, no doubt, but why Jasper? And the most important of all, how were we going to save him?

Meanwhile, Jasper, unaware of everything, kept tossing and turning in an uncomfortable sleep, while fevered deliriums about war and bloodied newborns plagued him. A shoothing hand caressed his face, and he wished he could wake up.

But he couldn't. As hard as he tried, he couldn't wake up.

A/N: Did you like it? The twist of the chapter, was it any good? Please tell me! As you may have guessed, I'm a vampire diaries fan and I got the idea of the vervain from the show. Thanks to all the people who'd reviewed, you motivate me a to write more! And keep'em coming! You know you want to review?


	5. Reunion

Carlisle was going mad, reading and reading books he knew wouldn't probably give him any clue. But he had to do something, he couldn't just watch his son die. As a doctor he had seen many people losing their loved ones, and it wasn't something he wanted to experience. When, after centuries of loneliness he had build himself a new family, he had hoped that being vampires as they were, he wouldn't have to worry about that.

He was wrong. First it was Edward in Italy, and now this Jasper situation. And he couldn't do anything about it. Just read and reread old yellowy pages with criptic sentences on them... Vampires had never a kind who liked to document their existence, so they were very few writings about them. Carlisle had gathered a decent collection, but it wasn't enough.

The doctor sighed.

It hurt not being able to help.

Jasper felt on fire. Every inch of his body seeemed to be burning and all the clothes and sheets surrounding him hurt. But he could discern the figures and voices of those around him: Bella, who calmed him down with her caresses and kindness when he had a bolt of agony; Emmett, always encouraging him to hang on and trying to cheer him up, and Edward, always trying to find a solution and fix the problem. He didn't know if it had been minutes, hours or days since they put him on that bed, all he knew was the pain seemed to be unending.

He tried to be awake, as Bella and Emmett had asked him to, but it was very difficult. He had gotten extremely tired and even keeping his eyes open was too much effort. There was only one thing he wanted to do now: say goodbye. He had lived long enough, had experienced good and bad things (more of the latter, though) and now it was over. He wanted to say goodbye to everyone, Bella, Edward, little Nessie, Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle, Esme... and specially Alice. But where was she? Jasper hadn't heard her voice since it all started... And now wondered if he would be hearing it again.

Alice was still partying. A much as she liked her family, she sometimes got a bit tired of being always with the same people and their dramas. A month, a year, it was okay, but when you spend fifty years living with the same people sometimes you feel the need of a brush of fresh air, every once in a while. And she was enjoying that right now.

A couple of young vampires from New York were with her. They were enjoying not being surrounded by thousands of mortals with every step the took, shopping, clubbing and going out under the clouds with great tranquility. The three of them had been chatting for hours and then went to buy some clothes. Alice had laughed and enjoyed very much their new perspective. It was being a really nice time.

After a couple of days on her own and without having any visions of the family even if she tried (they were still with some werewolf, probably) she had sudden flash of herself in the future. She was wearing dark robes and crying her eyes out in front of a tombstone, in what seemed to be back yard of the Cullen mansion.

Suddenly, she looked up and saw what was written in the tombstone.

_Jasper Hale_

_Beloved husband, brother and son_

_Your loss will never be repaired_

When she came back from the flash, all she could do was scream:

_"_"Noooooo!"

Back at the mansion, Carlisle had found something. It wasn't much, but it was worth trying. Reading the journal he'd gotten of a vampire from Quebec, he'd read how this vampire went to see a coven of vampires specialized in healing the inmortals, and how he had a witnessed a vampire who had recovered from acute poisoning.

That coven probably didn't exist anymore, or maybe his son's situation was irreversible, but he had to go there and see for himself. Knowing that a travel that could be in vain would be too much a strain for Jasper's fragile body, he decided to there by himself, get the solution and came back at lightning speed, if possible.

Knowing that he had no time, he told Esme where he was going, and she decided to go there with her husband, because being there without doing anything to help Jasper was driving her mad. They set off inmediately, leaving Nessie under Rosalie's care.

Alice's POV

It had to be wrong. It couldn't be happening, not to Jasper... I was driving my Porsche at the the top of its speed, still not able to believe what I had seen. It had to be something else. Like when I saw Bella jumping but she didn't die. Maybe there was another answer. But I had seen a tombstone now, and I had seen myself crying my heart out. There was no other answer possible, Jasper was going to die and he had been dead in my vision.

But hell, I had stopped other visions before, I would stop this one too.

When I arrived at the mansion it was almost deserted. I found Rosalie looking at a window with a sad expression and asked her where was everybody.

"Alice! Thank god! We've looking for you! We tried to locate you, but you didn't have your phone, and..."

Hell, hell, hell! Was I already too late?

"Rosalie! What happenned?"

"Something happenned to Jasper... Carlisle says he's been poisoned."

"No!" I whimpered, and hit a vase with flowers, angry at myself for not having been there "Where is he?"

"In some cabin in the woods"started Rosalie "You can call Emmett or Edward so they lead you there, I don't know where it is, and they are with him."

I took Rosalie's advice and called Edward, who picked up almost inmediately and said he'd be at the door as soon as possible. I was eagerly waiting at the door when I heard Rosalie's shaky voice.

"Alice...did you see something?"

"You don't wanna know, Rose, you really don't want to know."

It was only a couple of minutes after this that I was in Seth's cabin. Edward had been really quick, and as soon as I saw him we headed to the woods. Seth's place was a small and simple wooden house. He was out with the pack now, and that was why I haven't seen anything earlier but could have visions now. Bella and Emmett were inside, and Emmett still wore party clothes. Emmett's cheery face was solemn now, and didn't greet me with a smile like he usually did. Bella was on the verge of tears. When I looked at the bed I understood why.

"Jasper!"

My husband, the love of my life, was sprawled lifelessly in the bed. Even in that slumber I could feel the pain radiating off him, and he didn't react when I called him. He was burning up, and covered in a cold sweat, totally limp. I sat on the bed and cradled his head, thinking that something so bad couldn't be happening. Would I never see his eyes open again? Was I ever going to hear his voice again? It was a thought too unbearable to even think about it.

"Jasper, honey, wake up... You have to wake up..."

"We'll fix him, Alice, I'm telling you." said Emmett's voice behind me "And I don't care what the future says, he's strong, he'll recover. I know he will."

I focused on Emmett's words to avoid breaking down, while I stroked Jasper's blond hair.

"That's right, honey, you'll be all right. You'll fight and you'll be all right."

It was sad that reality differed from those hopeful words.

A/N: Longest chapter so far! Did you like it? Was it good? I certainly hope so! Please let me know what you think! And thank you to those who haveee! Next chapter will have more Jasper angst, Carlisle's trip and a bit of Rose and Nessie. You know you want to review!


	6. Family

Rosalie didn't like that situation. Not one bit. She'd been always a woman with character, who made her own choices, and now everyone was choosing for her. "Stay and watch Nessie, Rose" they had told her "We don't want the little one to see him like that", she heard. And what about her? Didn't she have the right to see her brother, to know exactly what was going on? Since the party the only thing she saw were people leaving the house and grave expressions. No one seemed to be able to tell her clearly what was going on, and she was going mad.

The only thing she knew was that something was really wrong with Jasper, and that she wasn't there for her. She had been left alone, and was supposed to keep it together. It didn't at all when Nessie asked where his parents or uncles were, and showed her memories of them. She told her that uncle Jasper was in trouble, because she didn't want to lie to her niece, and because it was pretty much everything she knew.

All that mess was making her increasingly anxious. She cared about Jasper more than she would want to, after all those years. They had even pretended that they were twins! Her brother had never been the most talkative guy in the world but he had always been there to listen to everything she said, and calm her down when she was angry or upset. And she wanted to be there with him, to know what was going on and end that horrible uncertainty.

Her wish came true almost in the very moment she wrote it in her jounal, because Emmett, Alice, Bella and Edward carrying Jasper walked into the house.

Carlisle walked in the bar and ordered a glass of red wine, something he hadn't done in several centuries. It was something pretty useless when the only thing your body accept is blood. But it had a use now. He was in a bar from Quebec where of the vampires from the healing coven was supposed to be in guard. If someone used the code (ordering a glass of red wine a leaving it untouched for an hour) the one in guard knew their services were required and asked if they needed anything. Or that was what he'd been told.

And there he was, watching the minutes go by. It was going to be a very long hour, not knowing if it was going to be helpful or just a huge waste of time. It hadn't been easy, finding out the information that had led him there and he feared the inaccuracy of those leads would make the trip of no use. After an hour an elegantly dressed lady came to him. Good sign, he thought, feeling hopeful for the first time in a while.

"Hello, sir, do you need anything?"

"I do, indeed. My son is suffering from a grave poisoning and I need a cure before he passes away." Carlisle answered.

"Well, I am very sorry to hear that. Have you identified the poison?"

"It's vervain. It's been affecting him for a while now, and we fear he doesn't have much time left."

"Fear not, sir, you've came to the right place. We may be able to help your son. But it's not going to be easy and it will require some time."

"I'll do whatever it takes."

The lady smiled enigmatically and led Carlisle to a secret door on the back of the bar.

He followed, and was suddenly surrounded by total darkness.

Nessie was playing with a little wooden train in her room. Her mum and dad had come back earlier, and now they were talking with aunt Aunt Rosalie, Uncle Emmett and aunt Alice. They were more quiet than usual. There was no piano playing for her, no games for her amusement. Auntie Rose had told her something was wrong with her uncle Jasper, but she didn't understand why nice Jasper would make them all sad. Normally he made everyone happy and calm, not the other way round.

She was quite clever for a kid her age, and decided that she would go directly to her uncle and ask him. And maybe she could tell him to restart the piano and games, and make the people less quiet. She abandoned her toys and left for Jasper and Alice's room. Everyone was downstairs, so no one saw her. She approached the bed running, because there was her uncle. But something was different.

The color of his skin was different, suddenly it had a greyish touch to it. A redish sweat ran through his forehead, which was quite odd, because she was the only one in her family capable of sweating. He was clutching the sheets of the bed with strength and his expression was one that he'd never seen on him. Suddenly she understood. Her uncle was suffering. Like when she fell and hurt her knees and hands, or when she ate too much and then her tummy hurt. It scared her, because she'd never seen something like that. In her world, adults were invulnerable.

"Uncle Jasper?" she softly asked.

Jasper opened his eyes slightly and looked at her through tired eyes.

"Hey, honey" he managed to say "shouldn't you be with mum and dad?"

"What wrong with you?" Nessie asked, confused.

"I ate something bad. Now I hurt."

"Can I fix it? Uncle?"

But her uncle's eyes were doing something strange and he wasn't answering her. Suddenly he stopped moving and his eyes closed. She moved him, but the only thing she got was something red in her hands. Not understanding anything, the little girl started crying. In seconds, her mum was upstairs.

Bella POV

We had been discussing what could we do while we waited for Carlisle and Esme to come back with the cure, how could we make Jasper's agony more bearable without weakening him even more. He needed to feed, bad, but we didn't know if his fevered body would be capable of doing that effort. I tried to think, to come up with new ideas, but all I wanted to do was cry. Suddenly, I heard Nessie doing just that, and went upstairs inmediately.

It was a terrible scene. Nessie was looking at her uncle with despair, and she had his blood on her hands. She ran to me the moment she saw me.

"Muuummy!"

I hugged her and cleaned her little hands with a towel I found in Jasper and Alice's bathroom. After that, I asked her why she was sad.

"I can't fix uncle Jasper and he hurts very, very."

I told her that her grandpa was going to solve everything, and that when he was back he was going to fix her uncle in no time, hoping that would be the truth. Realizing that it was quite a bit late, I told her it was time to bed, but she didn't want to leave her uncle until he was fixed. I really didn't want to go downstairs again, so I told her that she could sleep with Jasper if she wanted. Like that Icould keep an eye on both Nessie and Jasper. My daughter went to her room and brought me her pyjama, more cheery now because she'd gotten what she wanted.

When she was changed, she hopped into the bed and kissed Jasper in his cheek, lay next to him and hugged him tightly. It was then when I understood that my daughter was never going to be the same if she lost Jasper.

And I realized I was never going the be the same, either.

We'd be scarred the same way he was, or even worse.

A/N: Did you like it? What do you think? I'm sorry for the delay, but I promise I'll end the story! Please, please, please, leave a review and tell me any thoughts you have on the story and the chapter! You know you want to review!


	7. Hemlock, nightshade and jimsonweed

Carlisle ran at a speed that was humanly impossible. Two of the vampires from the Canadian coven were at his side. The doctor knew now what he had to do to save Jasper, and was racing to do it. The other two were going to investigate. There had been more reports of vervain attacks, most of them deadly, and they wanted them to stop. The first step to do that was finding out what was causing them. Esme was going to catch a plane and return with all their stuff. But Carlisle couldn't think in those strangers, not even in his wife. All he could think about was that time was against them, and that every passing second his son was closer to death.

Alice was lying next to her husband. She didn't want to see the future anymore. She was tired of it. The only thing she wanted to do was focus on the present. The present in which Jasper was alive, if only barely. She didn't want to look to see if Carlisle was arriving, or Rosalie or Emmett found a miracle solution, because she couldn't bear any more funerals and mourning. It was enough. Right now she would rest there, enjoying the company of her husband.

"Do you remember the first time we came here?" she asked him "You were so sure that they were going to kick you out... I told you everything was going to be all right, and although you trusted me, you were always so skeptical..."

She softly caressed is honey blond hair, shuddering at the thought of never being able to do it again, and thinking of all the times she chosen any other thing over him. Every time she'd preferred going shopping than staying at home with him, all the times she'd dismissed his conversations on books and told him he was boring, that last time when she was too busy with her party to notice he was in pain...

"I took you for granted... Forgot to care about you... But it won't happen again... I promise you that..." She said, with a trembling voice.

There wasn't much response from his part now. The dark shadows under his eyes were a shade of dark purple now, and he was almost as hot as the wolves were. The only indications that he was still alive were the ocasional whimpers and moans he let out every now and then and that redish sweat. It had been two whole days since the last time he opened his eyes. Alice knew these were his final moments, but her mind could process it right. She couldn't lose Jasper. Simply couldn't.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Emmett appeared, a gloomy expression on his face.

"Hey, Alice, how's he holding up?"

"Not good, Emmett, not good at all" she answered.

Suddenly, there were some noises on the kitchen, and a familiar vampire appeared on the door.

Emmett's POV (some minutes earlier)

I didn't like being down like this. Just waiting for hours to pass, because you feel that you've exhausted all the options possible. Rosalie was talking to some of the vampires that had been in the party, to see if they could help. Apparently, nobody could. I had already spoken to half the vampires I knew, almost all the quileutes -who weren't crazy about the idea of helping a vampire, obviously- and even to some of Carlisle's colleagues (omitting some information, of course). And no one could tell us anything. There had been a couple of home made remedys for intoxication a herbalist from the neighbour had prepared him, very worried to learn that one of the oh-so-kind Cullen brothers was ill, but of course they only worked in humans.

Everything was going wrong, and then worse. Everyone was terribly upset, even the usually cheery Nessie, who felt that fixing her uncle was a responsibility of hers. And Jasper's possibilities decreased each minute. I wanted to tell everyone that everything was going to be okay, that he'd be as good as new in no time, but I couldn't. For the first time in years, I didn't want to joke, to lighten the mood. I wanted to explode, to groan in frustration, to shout that the world was too unfair... but I knew it wouldn't make anything better.

I went up to Alice and Jasper's room, and before I knew I heard a sound and Carlisle was there with some different coloured bottles.

"What is that? You found the cure?" I asked.

"Kind of" Carlisle said, while mixing the content of the bottles "those Canadian vampires told me that even if there was no actual cure the toxin from some other plants could neutralize and minimize the impact for the vervain, and help getting it out. This is a mix of hemlock, nightshade and jimsonweed, all poisonous to humans, but hopefully helpful to Jasper."

Wow. How could everything change so much in just a minute. Alice was almost smiling and I felt all my previous anger wearing off. He had a chance of getting out of it alive, there was a bit of light finally. I could have my brother back!

"But don't get too excited" Carlisle said, as if reading my mind "it acts differently in every vampire, and Jasper's already quite weakened. But there is hope."

That was all we needed. A bit of hope to help us deal with the situation, to see everything under a more optimistic light. Bella, Edward and Nessie appeared in the door as well, probably happier after Edward had listened to our hopeful thoghts. We all watched how the doctor gave Jasper that oddly smelling mixture and how he swallowed it slowly.

We started talking about the good timing of the solution and the anxiety of the wait when two strange vampires appeared on the door of the room.

"Excuse me, who are you?" I asked, not wanting anything to interrupt our little moment of happiness.

"We're friends of the doctor." said a tall, slim vampire who had big dark eyes.

"Doctor who?"

"He means Carlisle, Emmett." Bella clarified "He is inside."

At hearing his name, Carlisle turned and saw the new guests.

"Ah, David, Tabitha, come, please! I just finished administering the solution you told about me about. When do you think we'll know if it's working?"

"A few hours, I suppose." said the guy I had talked to "May I examine the patient?"

"Of course, David, go ahead."

I looked at the guy with suspicion. He seemed strangely calm in a situation like this, and that british accent was really annoying. On the other hand, Carlisle trusted him, so I didn't stop him when leaned over Jasper.

"Most intriguing" the guy suddenly said.

"What?" Alice, Bella and I said in unison.

"This man should have been dead days ago."

A/N: Did you like it? Love it? I certainly hope so! And as always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts! (in other words: Revieeeeew!) I'm sorry for the delay :( And no, I couldn't help doing that Doctor Who reference, I just couldn't resist! Hoped you liked the chapter! You know you want to review!


	8. Vampire Crime Scene Investigation

-What do you mean he's supposed to be dead?- Alice asked.

- All the other victims never made it through the third or fourth day. The moment the poison reached the head their system shut down, almost automatically. They never reached this patient's state.- Said the Canadian vampire, David.

- His name is Jasper.- Bella clarified, shy.

- Thank you, miss. The fact that Jasper has survived such an aggressive attack, even when the poison's spread throughout all his system, makes him a unique specimen, and he might be able to help others. While he recovers, Tabitha and I would like to do a little detective work, see if we can clear this mystery. I've seen some scars on… Jasper's arms, could you tell us how did he get them?

- He was the leader of an army, just after he was turned- Alice explained, while the other Canadian vampire took notes-. His job was to train and guide newborns and finish them when their strength faded. He's been in many battles, and is been bitten thousands of times.

- Thus creating a remarkable resistance to pain and to that kind of poison… What do you think, Tabitha? You think it's possible this individual's defenses have increased due to his exposure to violence?

- I suppose. But we can't link this to any of the other cases, it was a peculiarity of the victim. - She said, solemn.

- Yes, yes, a mistake of the perpetrators. Speaking of which, we're going to have to check the places where he normally fed and spent his time. Can you tell us what these places are?

- There`s our room – started Alice-, the living room and he normally hunts in the woods that surround the house.-

- Well, then I'll search the house for evidence, Tabitha takes the woods and Carlisle, you stay with Jasper in case anything happens.

Carlisle nodded and he, Alice and Emmett went up to the room where Jasper was. He was still very quiet and unmoving, just in the same state he was before the treatment was given to him. Carlisle wondered if he'd done something wrong, if it had finally been too much to take for Jasper. It was bad that he hadn't reacted yet, and the wait was killing him. He felt better now, knowing that he had done everything he could, but it wouldn't be okay until he saw his son open his eyes.

Alice had decided not to look into the future for a couple of days more, just in case things hadn't changed. She couldn't stand seeing that tombstone again, it haunted her very spirit. She would just wait, like everyone else, to see what happened. If Jasper recovered, it would be the best surprise of her life. And if he didn't, at least he wouldn't have to carry that burden until the exact moment of his death.

Later that night, the Canadian vampires came back with the results. Apparently, there were only traces of the poison in very specific places. There was vervain in parts of the forest (like were Jasper didn't finish that deer when he went hunting with Emmett) and in Jasper's clothes and belongings. It had been clearly a targeted attack.

-This is not the first time we've seen this- David started to explain-. There is someone out there, with wide knowledge of vampires, who chooses specific individuals of families and communities and puts poison surrounding them unnoticed. In some of the cases the whole family disappears after the first attack. We suspect a vampire, because a human would leave a distinct scent, but maybe he or she has found a way to conceal it, too.-

-And how can we start looking for them? - Edward asked.

-We have advantage now, because we know something they don't.-

- What?-

- That Jasper's still alive. Someone who has put so much work into an attack is normally proud of their work, so they go to boast of their results. He's probably been there in every funeral, watching his work. Or her work, I can't know. The fact is that this is a very vain person, who gets a kick on attacking and killing vampires. They make a very complicated job, they spend time, and the climax of all is seeing the pain in the faces of the other vampires in the family.

- That's why he chooses families. - Emmett added.

- Probably –continued David-. This gives us a way of them coming to us without us having to go search them. We'll make a fake funeral for Jasper and caught them there, watching and boasting about their win.

- Caught in the act. - added Emmett.

Upstairs, while the Canadians and part of the Cullens were planning a way to catch the attackers in the funeral, Nessie slept in the lap of his mum in the room next to Jasper and Alice's room. There Jasper was still unresponsive, all angel-like with his blonde hair framing his beautiful face and in chair next to him, softly whispering, the one member of the family who was supposed to be selfish and detached. Rosalie.

-Alice is downstairs, with those expert vampires. They seem to know everything, those guys, and I would think they're arrogant know-it-alls, but if there's a chance they save you and catch your attackers, I'm going to love them. We really miss you, you know? Not only the fact that you could chill all the terrible emotions, but also your clever comments, and I also miss the way in which you look at me with complicity when someone does something stupid or when Nessie gets soo loud… You have to come back, ok?

She caressed her brother's hair and forehead and tried to calm herself. Suddenly, she felt Jasper stirring and started calling his name. Could the antidote be finally working?

-Jasper? Jasper? Can you hear me?

-uhm… Rose?

- Yes, it's me! Oh my god, Jasper, I'm so glad so woke up!- she hugged her brother, relieved and happy, before asking- How are you feeling?

-Bad….My head hurts and my stomach hurts, everything, I'm so tired….

- You'll feel better soon, I promise… But hang on, I'll get Alice and Bella and the others…

-Can't anymore… don't resist… tired… gonna miss you, Rose…. And Alice, everyone… Sorry… Bye….

No, no, no, no!

-Jasper! Jasper!

Startled by Rosalie's screams, most of the Cullens went to Alice and Jasper's room to see what was going on

-What is it, Rose?- asked Emmett, seeing how shaken was his wife.

-He woke up…. Jasper woke up and he said goodbye.

A/N: So, what do you think of it? The mystery is starting to clear… but will Jasper be there to watch it solved? As always, I want to hear your thoughts and if you liked the story. Please, please review! You know you want to review!


	9. Memorial

This was it. The moment she'd feared the most for the last week. Everyone was wearing black, everyone had a solemn face. Jasper Hale's funeral. Everyone was there, all the Cullens, the clan from Denali and some other vampires who had been at Alice's party.

The service was short but intense, and it spoke mainly about Jasper's strength and dedication to others. Nobody made a sound or said anything, the only thing that could be heard was the ocasional soft whimper. There were flowers everywhere, specially white ones. Peter and Charlotte, Jasper's nomad friends were also there, visibly affected. Time seemed to pass slower than usual, and minutes seemed like an eternity to the Cullens.

The sadness was almost unbearable to Alice. Memories of her and Jasper flashed through her mind, making it all worse. Remembering her of all the times she'd neglected him, of all the things she never told him, of all the times she hadn't been there. She wished everything to be over.

After the ceremony, people started leaving. Alice and Rosalie left, too, uncapable of staying there longer. It was a couple hours later when an unknown guy walked up to the tombstone. It was not a vampire but a human of approximately 50 years, who wore an old suit. He seemed sad at first, but then a grin filled his face. He looked at Jasper's name with disdain and muttered in barely above a wishper:

"I win! I win!"

Without leaving the man time to react, Edward and Emmett appeared and took him by the arms. David, the canadian vampire, and Carlisle appeared in front of the man, hoping to be doing the correct thing.

"What are you doing! You filthy vamp! I'll kill you too! Let go of me, let go of me...". Yes, this was definitely the man they were looking for.

"Shut up!" said Carlisle's grave voice. "We know that it was you who poisoned my son! Why did you do it? And how? Answer!"

"And why would I tell you anything? You don't deserve to know anything! And now let go of me! You bag of filth! Monsteeers!"

It was certainly a difficult situation, since the man seemed to have a very strong will, but the vampires weren't going to let him go so easily. That was Jasper's attacker, the one who had inflicted so much pain to the family, and the vampires had a secret weapon prepared for him.

"David, please, it's your turn now." said Carlisle's voice.

"What is your name?" asked the vampire softly.

"Jack Thompson, sir."

Everyone looked at the guy, amazed. Even the attacker himself looked confused: not only he had answered that filthy vampire, he had treated him with respect! What the hell was he doing? Why was he doing it?

"Were you the responsible for Jasper Hale's poisoning, Mr. Thompson?"

"Yes, I was." And after a puse, the man continued "Damm you, freak! Lift your spell off of me!" The guy continued to move and revolve, but Edward and Emmett's grip was strong.

"That's it, then, he has mind control." Wishpered Edward, "that man has no escape now."

"Tell me now: How did you manage to get the poison in that vampire's system? And are you responsible the other attacks to vampires in Delaware, Toronto and Alberta?"

"Yes, I was" started saying Mr. Thompson despite himself. "I always do the same. Search the families, choose a member, follow them and put the poison in high concentration in things that they use like keys, socks or things like those. I got an scent-neutralizer from other vampire-hunter friends, so I don't leave any trace, and then I stay to watch how the family falls apart."

"Why do you do such a thing? Why do you enjoy destroying these families?" Asked David, wanting to understand why someone would do so much work just to destroy.

"They don't deserve to be happy! None of you do! Most of my hunter friends only go after vampires who feed on humans, but I know better... You're the same shit, or even worse, maybe!"

"Where is all this hate coming from?" asked Emmett, while mantaining his grip on the furious man.

"My... my daughter... said she was tired of leaving with so much violence at home, and left me, abandoned me to go with a freaking family of vampires. She became the enemy, and I hate you all for taking her away from me! It's not fair! You are monsters, all of you, and you don't deserve to be happy! I sould be the happy one! You should be rotting in hell, monters!"

"Well, this ends tonight." said Esme, who had been watching everything "this last family has been your end. It's been the failure that's gotten you out of business. You'll never hurt anyone again."

Mr. Thompson smiled mischievously, unaware of the three people who had appeared behind him.

"Well, it hasn't been a complete failure. I managed to kill him, didn't I?"

"Actually, you didn't." Said a deep voice behind him. There he was, Jasper Hale, the vampire who was supposed to be dead standing in front of him. He was leaning on Alice, and Rose was on his other side in case he lost his precarious balance. He was still pale as death, and there parts of his face and hands that had strange purplish patches, but the fact that he could stand was more than enough to make every Cullen happy. Esme went inmediately to hug him and everyone smiled. Everyone except Mr. Thompson, who used this moment to try to escape.

No such luck.

"Stop!" ordered David, and the man stopped."What do you want to do with this man, dear Carlisle?"

"Nothing too harsh." he said, aware of David's power.

"OK. Mr. Thompson, are you a fugitive of justice?" the man nodded "What are your charges?

"Three charges of aggression, armed robbery and a kidnapping with violence."

"Sounds good. What do you think, Mr. Hale, is this man going to turn himself in?"

Jasper looked gretufully at David, then at the rest of his family and nodded.

"I think he is."

"Mr. Thompson, I command you to turn yourself in to the police. You will go to the police and confess everything but avoid anything related to the Cullens or me. You are going to the police because you just couldn't live with that burden. Is it understood?" Another nod. "Well now, comply."

And Mr. Thompson took out his cell phone.

"Police...?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The family was complete again. No more pain, no more despair. That Thompson man would spend a nice time in jail. Davis and his silent comanion had left, but were invited to return anytime they wanted. While Nessie was having dinner at the mansion, happy that his uncle was "fixed" again, the whole set of Cullens spoke about the ordeal they'd been through, and decided only to take the good things that came out of it.

They all felt they were stronger.

Carlisle felt he could still protect his family.

Emmett and Rosalie learned that they loved his brother way more than they thought they did.

Nessie learned that adults were not invulnerable, a lesson that would prove helpful in her future.

Alice learned to never his husband for granted.

And Jasper learned that, despite everything, he was an important part of that family, and that they all loved him and cared about him.

He also decided to tell someone if his head started to hurt again.

The End!

A/N: Well, this is it! I finally ended the story! What did you think about the ending? Good, bad? And about the story in general? Please, tell his feedback-hungry writer! Hoped you enjoyed it! Thanks fro reading the story until the end! You know you want to review!


End file.
